Sorry it took me so long. I went on vacation and came back to find out a week's worth of work didn't get done. I've lived, breathed and dreamed *shudder* work ever since. Until Mary came and threatened to eat all my chocolate.

I hope you enjoy it. And be warned, this may be a little racy. It's the first time I've ever written a scene like this.


Having managed to get it through Marshall's thick skull that he didn't need to be strong all the time and that it was okay to lean on her occasionally, Mary had sunk back into her much needed sleep feeling more cherished and protected than she ever had. She was not a woman who cuddled. Or snuggled. Or slept in someone's arms sharing the same pillow. Except, apparently, when Marshall was next to her.

Lazily, she opened her eyes so she could watch his face as he slept. His normally expressive features were finally peaceful, which relieved her. When he'd woken wracked with more guilt than he fell asleep with she'd been seriously annoyed for the space of a heartbeat. It had been a hair-trigger reaction born from years of emotional enslavement to her mother and sister. And she knew it was why he didn't want to lean on her. Her skinny geek probably thought she had one too many people already dependent upon her.

Except Marshall could never be a burden. Taking care of him wasn't a chore but a… well, not a pleasure exactly, but it was extremely gratifying to be able to do something for him instead of the other way around. It made her feel needed in a way nothing ever had before.

It was a satisfaction that she could still feel as she whispered her fingertips across the stubble on his jaw, up his cheek and into his hair. Despite the product she knew he used - and would never admit to - his hair was so soft.

All of the sudden she found herself caught by blazing blue eyes that went from sleepy to smoldering as she stared. Those eyes created a change she could feel everywhere their bodies touched, the subtle rub of his firm chest against hers making her nipples tighten, the hard thigh insinuating itself between her legs.

"Good morning lady love," he whispered and she shivered at the sleep-roughened texture of his voice. When the hell had she turned into a heroine from a romance novel? She wasn't supposed to be flushed and tingly from so little.

Marshall woke without the confusion this time, knowing exactly was wrapped up in his arms. He couldn't count how many times he'd dreamed of waking up this way. When Mary began to caress him he was incredibly tempted to forego his gentlemanly resolve to do things right. He couldn't stop himself from trying to get just a little bit closer, to feel the arousal that was glowing in her eyes.

"Good morning cowboy," she whispered back and gentlemanly resolve disappeared entirely when her tongue ran along her lower lip. Moving in the small distance he kissed her, almost groaning as her lips immediately parted for him. The hand that had been in his hair slid down his body to wrap around his waist as she arched into him, her lush curves pressing against him.

He couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been so aroused!

Marshall rolled onto his back, pulling Mary on top of him, and finally did groan as the full length of her body spread across him. She took advantage of the opportunity and took control of the kiss, her tongue tangling with his, stroking, sliding and teasing him. Desperate to feel her bare skin, his hands found their way under the skimpy tank-top she'd worn to bed to dance across her smooth skin.

So that was what was hiding under those Wranglers; sweet God in Heaven! Mary broke the kiss gasping at the molten heat flooding her body. She sat up long enough to pull the tank-top off and tug at the hem of Marshall's t-shirt. He was uncooperative as his hands slid up to caress an agonizingly slow path towards her breasts.

Suddenly she was on her back and Marshall's lips were on her neck. "Tell me to stop," he growled into her ear.

"Don't," she replied, wrapping her legs around his hips.

"I need to do this right," he said and Mary could hear the hesitation in his voice and felt him begin to withdraw again.

"Marshall, this is right," she sighed. "I know you want to give me the romance and wining and dining. And I love that you want that. But here, now… waking up next to you and simply being with you feels more right than anything else in the world. No matter what, we are always right when we are together."

Marshall's heart throbbed at her words as he captured her lips again. Her words were so beautiful and had stripped him of his ability to form any of his own. This time when she tugged at his shirt, he helped her remove it, tearing his lips from hers only at the last possible moment. He moaned when her nails scraped down his back and her thighs pressed him tighter to her core.

Something primitive in him demanded that he make this amazing for her but if she continued to arch up against him it was going to be over way too fast to accomplish that. Pulling her arms away from him, he guided them above her head as he sought the tender curve of her throat. Slowly, decadently, he pressed kisses along it before moving ever lower.

Mary struggled against Marshall's firm grip wanting to touch him at first. But when his hungry mouth found her breasts, his teeth worrying at her nipples, she wanted to hold his head there and prevent him from ever stopping. In a brief moment of rational thought she decided she was going to have exact delicious revenge for the helpless, wanton whimpers he was dragging out of her.

When his mouth left her breasts, she pouted and threaded her fingers into his hair to encourage him back to them. He seemed determined though as his hands were dragging down the pajama pants she'd borrowed from him and she couldn't pull him back up. Nor could she push him down further as he nibbled along the edge of her panties.

"Marshall," she pleaded as he lifted first one leg then the other to finish removing her pants. She didn't know what she was asking for except that she wanted more of him.

"I don't care what you do," Marshall growled at her, trying not to give in to her urging, her increasingly deeper moans. "I am not going to be rushed. And I'm going to make you scream."


Any thoughts? Please let me know what you think.

~K